


Not Always a Crowd

by UselessLilium (o0whitelily0o)



Series: Kazumi Onimaru Appreciation Project [11]
Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Consensual Possession, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0whitelily0o/pseuds/UselessLilium
Summary: After a lot of time and work put towards repairing their relationship, Kazumi finally feels ready to let Shiranui Diffride him again. Especially with Kazuma insisting on chaperoning.





	Not Always a Crowd

Kazumi’s train was about to arrive any moment, and Kazuma was doing his best not to pace. He didn’t want to look nervous about this, especially not when it was his idea. But, c’mon, how else was he supposed to react knowing his brother was letting Shiranui Diffride him again?

“It won’t be for long,” he had said a couple of days ago, “Just a few hours, this weekend. But I wanted to let you know, in case you’d prefer to avoid him entirely.”

Yeah, right. Like he was going to just let that stupid dragon do whatever he wanted in his brother’s body unsupervised. Kazuma had immediately insisted on tagging along with the two of them, to make sure that nothing bad or even just unplanned happened. Kazumi had laughed a little at his vehemence, but looked relieved when he agreed. Even if Shiranui’s possession had been over half a year ago now, even if Kazumi insisted that everything was fine between them, it still had to be scary to try this again.

Well, Kazumi didn’t have anything to worry about as long as he was here. If Shiranui so much as twitched in the wrong direction, Kazuma would find some way to send him back. He dropped his hand to his jacket pocket, felt the shape of his deck and let it reassure him, and watched as Kazumi’s train pulled in to the station.

Turned out to be a lot of people disembarking here, but fortunately Kazumi was tall enough to stand out regardless. Once Kazuma got a good look at him, it was obvious enough who was running his brother’s body. Nothing physically changed, but there was still something about his eyes that looked darker. More distant. And his expression was openly irritated in a way Kazumi didn’t let himself be. For a second, Kazuma felt his chest tighten and he had to swallow back an instinctive dread. 

But he shook his head and firmly reminded himself why he was here, and finally raised a hand to get Shiranui’s attention. “Hey, I’m over here,” he called. Shiranui picked him out quickly, and his expression smoothed out into something that Kazuma might have thought was relief, coming from anyone else.

“Ah, hello,” Shiranui said as he approached him, “I’m glad we were able to find you so quickly...” The way he trailed off, Kazuma could practically see the guy running through all various possible ways to address him in his head.

_ If he calls me ‘Maa-kun’ _ , Kazuma promised silently,  _ I’m gonna punch him. _

Finally Shiranui settled on, “Kazuma.” Which still felt too familiar, but hearing ‘Shouji-san’ or something like that in Kazumi’s voice would’ve been weirder. Kazuma guessed he could live with it.

Though Shiranui wasn’t the only one who didn’t quite know how to have this conversation. Kazuma grappled for something non-threatening to say. “I guess that was your first time on the train?” 

Shiranui nodded. “I didn’t see much point to going out of my way to use it, last time.”

“And there was now?”

Face twisting slightly with distaste, he said, “I’d prefer to limit my interactions with the members of his household this time.”

Kazuma snorted at that, and managed not to snap out a retort like ‘nice of you to finally have a problem with them’, and instead changed the subject. “Well, he told me he wanted to have lunch and go see a movie with you. Is that still on?” More a challenge than a question. Any attempt at deviating from what Kazuma knew his brother wanted was, without question, unacceptable.

But Shiranui just nodded. “Yes, I have no complaints about it.” He looked away suddenly, like he’d been distracted by something, and then smiled a little. “Kazumi has been very excited all morning.”

It looked weird on him, that smile. Kazuma felt uneasy just looking at it, so he turned and headed towards the exit instead. “Okay, let’s get to it, then.”.

Shiranui caught up to him easily, following just a little behind. “...It’s surprisingly complicated in here,” he said, “I’ve seen airports, but I would have thought something used more commonly would be simpler.”

Kazuma rolled his eyes, and reminded himself that Kazumi was still, technically, there. No picking unnecessary fights. “Did Kazumi mention anywhere he wanted to go to eat?”

“Oh, that... he said you could decide. Since you’re going out of your way to look after us today, he thought it was only fair.”

Kazuma glanced over his shoulder up at Shiranui, who was smiling neutrally enough. It did sound like something Kazumi would say, he guessed. There was a temptation to go with somewhere terrible - or at least unsuitable for a date - just to see how dedicated Shiranui really was to behaving himself. But that would mean putting Kazumi through something difficult too. He couldn’t do that, especially not if the Diffride was already as hard for him as Kazuma thought it was. “Okay,” he finally said, turning forward again, “There’s a burger place not far away. That should be good.”

“Hm...” Shiranui said, then chuckled a little. “He’s looking forward to it. It sounds like a good choice.”

Kazuma’s mouth tightened. He didn’t really want this guy complimenting him. But if Kazumi was happy... he’d wouldn’t be the one to ruin that.

 

* * *

 

For lunchtime on a weekend, the place wasn’t as busy as it could’ve been. Hooray for small favors. After ordering, Kazuma had to practically push Shiranui out of the way to keep him from paying for him - that he wasn’t gonna accept, no matter how much Shiranui insisted Kazumi wanted to. Grabbing his food, he went ahead to get a booth while Shiranui stared at the menu a little longer and breathed a small sigh of relief at getting away from him for a bit.

Not that it lasted long. Before he knew it, Shiranui was walking towards him with his own tray, carrying it carefully with one hand. Kazuma eyed the food, raising an eyebrow at the large white- and dark-chocolate drizzled fries in addition to the normal burger. “Think you got enough?”

“The employee at the register said they were a limited time offer,” he said, “I wouldn’t want Kazumi to miss an opportunity to try them.”

...They did look good. Kazuma had held off ordering them himself because he hadn’t wanted to admit his sweet tooth to Shiranui, but now it felt like wasted effort. Well, never mind. He’d just have to come back another time to try them. After a few minutes of eating in slightly awkward silence, Kazuma noticed Shiranui was holding his burger with just his left hand too. His right remained next to him on the seat, perfectly unoccupied with anything else. “It’s easier to use both, you know,” he finally said. Shiranui just blinked at him for a moment, then looked down at his right hand.

“Ah, of course.” Lifting the other hand and flexing it lightly, he snorted a bit. “I almost forgot.”

“What do you mean ‘forgot’?”

He glanced at Kazuma, then looked back down and said, simply, “I lost an arm fighting Gyze. I've been trying out prosthetics, I suppose I’ve gotten used to only having one.” Then he took a bite of food, like that wasn’t a piece of information anyone might have a follow-up question for.

Kazuma gaped. “You really lost an arm?  _ How _ ?” 

“That’s not important.” Then Shiranui jumped a little, frowned, and repeated more firmly, “It’s  _ not important _ .” He took another bite of food, chewing very deliberately.

That sure was something Kazuma had no idea how to react to. Should he... ask if Shiranui’s okay? He did say it pretty nonchalantly. But it was a serious injury, and if it was against Gyze... that meant Kazuma was sort of responsible for it, right? At least indirectly. He didn’t like the guy, but Kazumi cared about him a lot... Kazuma didn’t like the idea of him getting hurt that badly by something he helped unleash.

“Um... sorry,” Kazuma muttered, looking down and turning to his own fries to eat for a distraction.

Shiranui let out a breath that wasn’t quite a sigh. “There’s no need to apologize, Kazuma. My involvement in that matter was my own responsibility. I certainly played a larger role in bringing it about than you. It’s only natural I try to fix my own mistakes.” Then he ate a fry, as if that settled the matter.

Kazuma eyed him warily. Was it really just as simple as that? It was hard to imagine a guy who had such a strong need for vengeance he’d even turn on his Vanguard without a second thought not holding any kind of grudge. But... Kazumi would’ve known about all this before now, right? And he still trusted Shiranui to come here and hang around with him. Though, Kazumi was about as far from unbiased as you could get.

Still... he put it off with a few more bites of food, until he finally forced out, “Well. Thanks, then.” He kept his eyes firmly away from Shiranui. “For helping to stop that thing. I’m glad you did.”

Shiranui snorted, and Kazuma looked up ready for a fight. But Shiranui was smiling at him. “You really do resemble your avatar.”

“What, Luard?” Kazuma squinted, “Why would you know anything about that?”

“He’s been staying with my clan for a few weeks now, helping me with some things,” he said, in a way that sounded like a half-truth, “Though I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned that to you.”

“You mean Kazumi?” Well, Shiranui sort of had a point there. When Kazumi started ‘seeing’ Shiranui again, it was way too sore of a subject for Kazuma to really want to hear much. But it was looking like Kazumi was only going to see more of him, so maybe he should rethink his stance on that... especially if his avatar was a topic of conversation.

But to his surprise, Shiranui’s answer was, “No, I mean Luard.” He tilted Kazumi’s head, looking honestly surprised. “Have you not spoken with him recently?”

Kazuma blinked, then shifted in his seat uneasily. “I... I hear him sometimes,” he said, a little defensive, “And I have seen him a few times. But...” Since Gyze, those glimpses had almost screeched to a halt. It sucked, actually. After years, he’d just started to really feel Luard’s presence again, and then that whole nightmare happened and... it felt like things had been reset. It wasn’t a complete severing, but there was a distance now Kazuma really didn’t want, but didn’t know how to fix other than to keep playing and calling on him.

“I see,” Shiranui said, leaning back in his seat a little, “Are you frightened of him now?”

“What? No way, of course not.” Kazuma frowned, hand reflexively dropping to his pocket and the deck inside. “I know Luard’s not that monster. We just both got hijacked by it. That’s not his fault.”

Shiranui nodded, still looking thoughtful. “Perhaps I should speak to him about this when I return. It may be he’s misunderstanding your feelings.”

Actually asking Shiranui for help was out of the question, but Kazuma couldn’t deny he was bothered by this. “...Do whatever you want,” he finally said, and then he took another bite of his burger to end the conversation. Shiranui took the hint and let the matter drop, and instead finished off his burger and turned to the fries. About halfway through, though, his expression shifted towards something like dread.

It was sort of funny to watch, but seeing his brother’s face look so uncomfortable still made him want to at least point out, “You don’t have to finish them, if you don’t like them.” 

“...Kazumi’s enjoying them,” Shiranui said, with surprising determination, “That comes first, in this sort of situation.”

Kazuma blinked, as Shiranui focused on chewing on another chocolate-soaked potato. Then he heaved a sigh. “Look, you still got way too many. Give me half, okay? Kazumi won’t care about that.” Shiranui glanced up at him, seemed to calculate something, and then finally nodded, pushing the paper dish closer to him.

Taking a bite of a few, Kazuma regretted even more not getting them for himself. Crunchy and salty and sweet... he could totally eat a large by himself if he had to. He really needed to find out how long these were gonna be available so he could and Kazumi could get them again. 

Eventually the junk food haze faded enough that he thought to ask, “So, does Kazumi have a movie in mind? He didn’t mention anything to me.”

Shiranui tilted his head. “Well, he did look up what’s being shown before, but he doesn’t seem to have a preference. Apparently he’s mainly watched foreign romances on his own, but there isn’t anything playing like that right now.” That sort of thing would have been a surprise to learn about Kazumi half a year ago, but now Kazuma just snickered fondly. He’d have to ask Kazumi later what, specifically, he’d seen. “He said he’d like for me to pick, but...”

Yeah, it was a little hard to guess what a ninja dragon from another planet might find fun to watch for at least an hour and a half. “It’s fine, we’ll just get there early. They should have ads and stuff there, you can just pick whatever looks interesting.” It shouldn’t be a problem. It was still only just after noon, there was plenty of time to decide.

 

* * *

 

Kazuma looked at his watch. It had been fifteen whole minutes since Shiranui started looking at the movie advertisements, and he didn’t seem any closer to a decision. He just kept walking up and down the posters set up on the wall, every now and then pausing to look at play summaries on Kazumi’s phone, before going back to looking at the wall posters again. “Look,” Kazuma finally said, heaving a sigh, “Can you at least weed out the ones you definitely don’t want to watch? Narrow it down a little.”

Shiranui glanced over his shoulder at him, frowning lightly. “It’s hard to say,” he said, obviously being evasive.

“Well, do you even like  _ any _ of them?”

He sighed in clear frustration. “I don’t know... it isn’t that I have a problem with the premises of the stories. It’s simply that...” He stared back at the poster currently in front of him - some guy looking mad while he stood in front of explosions - and his frown deepened. “None of them are true stories, correct?”

Kazuma glanced at the ads quickly, but nothing seemed like an obvious documentary. “I don’t think so...”

“And all these humans are simply actors, playing pretend...” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m being difficult. It’s simply hard to imagine caring about what I’m watching, knowing that everything being shown is fake.” He perked his head up, then started to look worried, and quickly backpedaled, “But that’s just my own stubbornness. Maybe if I just pick something, it’ll surprise me...”

Kazuma crossed his arm. He almost understood what Shiranui meant, but... not quite. “So you don’t like any kind of acting? What about plays?”

That, at least, got an amused look out of him. “We were too small a clan to put on anything like that ourselves, and there weren’t exactly many opportunities to go find and watch a troupe.” Then he looked thoughtful. “I suppose the closest would be was storytelling. We did that quite often - everyone would gather around and compete on who could tell the most interesting tales, and how well they presented their choice. Some told the same one over and over, trying to perfect their performance.” Still, he shook his head dismissively. “But I think that’s a little different from this.”

It seemed like a starting point, though. “Okay, well, what kind of stories did you like listening to?”

“Rather than specific tales, I mainly admired the craft itself. A good enough orator could invest you in anything... it was like they could build an entire world within their story.”

Well, it did sound interesting when he put it like that. But it still wasn’t really a  _ helpful  _ answer. “Maybe just think of the actors like that? People trying to get you invested in their character.”

“Maybe, but... it feels more distracting than anything.” Shiranui started walking up the row again, leaving Kazuma to follow him. When they passed a poster for the latest movie in some magical girl franchise, Shiranui lingered on it. “This may seem like a foolish question, but I’ve been wondering about this.” He turned to Kazuma, “Is this simply an illustration for the advertisement, and the actual movie is put on with human actors like the others, or...?”

Kazuma blinked. “Uh, no. That’s an anime, the whole thing looks like that.”

Shiranui looked back at the poster, staring intently. “I see... so apparently humans draw enough pictures to create the illusion of movement? That is quite a feat...”

He was eyeing the poster very closely, eyes wide. There was no way to read that as anything other than interest. So, Kazuma went out on a limb and asked, “Do you want to see for yourself?”

For a few moments, Shiranui didn’t answer, and looked slightly distracted. Then he straightened back up, shaking his head. “This sort of thing is mostly for human children, correct? I wouldn’t want to bore either of you.”

Kazuma had to roll his eyes at that. “Oh come on,  _ you’re _ the one he’s trying to please. If you’re not interested in what we watch, Kazumi’s gonna feel like he screwed up.”

Eventually, Shiranui relented. “I suppose you’re right about that... then, do you mind?”

He shrugged. “Hey, as long as you’ve finally picked something, I’m good.”

 

* * *

 

For a spin-off movie about a magical girl show Kazuma had never seen, it turned out to be better than he thought. The actual animation was really colorful and lively - they must’ve had a good budget. The story itself was interesting enough, too. Something about the main character forgetting to include an ending for a fairy tale she tried to write, so all the fairy tale characters came to life to get her and her friends to finish it. At least they didn’t need to know anything about the main series to keep up with it. 

It seemed like the kind of thing Kazumi would have enjoyed regardless, but he still wasn’t sure if it was anything Shiranui would actually like. He didn’t talk much during the film, but every time Kazuma looked over, his eyes were glued to the screen.

Once the credits started to roll and the lights came back up, Shiranui finally said something. “Amazing... all of that was really hand drawn, correct?”

“Probably,” Kazuma said, standing up and heading for the aisle, “I guess computers help with parts of it, but-”

“Even so, there’s no denying the artistry involved.” Shiranui nodded seriously, crossing his arms as he followed Kazuma towards the exit. “The story itself was a bit simplistic, but that’s appropriate for children. It was still told very well. And the part when they called out to the audience for help was very engaging.” He tilted his head, and smiled a little. “It seems Kazumi grew quite fond of the villain.” Then he paused. “Ah, my apologies. Antagonist. He insists that’s the better term.”

“Yeah, she was pretty good.” The lonely main character of the fairy tale, feeling forgotten by the lead without any ending for her story... it was a more complex motivation than he would’ve thought. “Too bad she was probably a movie original.”

“What do you mean?”

Kazuma looked back over his shoulder at Shiranui. “Well, that movie’s for a weekly show. There’s a whole series of the main characters.”

Shiranui stopped, looking utterly dumbfounded. “Really? They make news stories for those girls every week? And draw them all out like that?  _ Every  _ week?”

The vehemence of his questions was enough to take Kazuma aback. “Yeah, I guess? The episodes are shorter, though. I could probably find one of the DVDs to show you, if you’re that interested...”

Shiranui opened his mouth, then paused, and shook his head. “No. Another time, perhaps. We decided only a few hours for this trip. I don’t want to extend that without considering it carefully.” 

Oh, right... it had already been that long, hadn’t it? And they’d already finished everything Kazumi had planned to do. It was kind of a shock to realize there wasn’t anything else after this. Kazuma asked, “Well, is there anything else you two want to do before you head back, then?”

“He says there’s a place he’d like to show me. Do you mind if I let him direct us?”

“‘Course not.”

He probably shouldn’t have been surprised to realize they were heading towards the riverside walk he and Kazumi had met at so many times. When they reached the stone benches, Shiranui sat right down, looking out at the water. It was a nice day out, Kazuma had to admit. Sunny and warm, with a good breeze. This spot always had a peaceful feel to it, and today was no different. 

“Thank you for accompanying us,” Shiranui said, finally breaking the silence, “You made Kazumi feel much more at ease.”

Kazuma crossed his arms, leaning against one of posts for the overhang. “Good, that’s why I did it.”

Shiranui looked more amused than anything, which was annoying, but Kazuma got this far without fighting the guy. He wasn’t gonna ruin that now. “Even so, I’m surprised you weren’t more opposed to this.”

“What, and make him feel like he had to hide it from me, or do it all alone?” Kazuma snorted. “Not a chance. I’m not interested in giving him any ultimatums like that. Whatever I think of you... I know he cares about you a lot.” This point, he had no intention of sugarcoating. He glared right at Shiranui. ”You had better be grateful to him.”

“...I am,” he said, in a soft voice that sounded closer to Kazumi’s than anything else Shiranui had said all day. It surprised Kazuma, and was only outweighed by the sight of Shiranui putting a hand to Kazumi’s chest, smiling with unmistakable care. He glanced up at Kazuma. “I’ll be leaving shortly. May I have some time alone with him?”

...He  _ had _ behaved himself all day, Kazuma reminded himself. “Fine. But don’t just collapse like you did at the tournament, you could hit his head on something.”

Shiranui nodded, and Kazuma walked down a few feet away until he felt safely out of earshot. He guessed he could trust the guy that far, at least.

He checked the clock on his phone, and after ten minutes passed, he turned around and headed back. Kazumi was leaning against the tree, next to the bench, looking like he was asleep. Kazuma sighed in relief, and put a hand against his head, brushing some hair out of his face. “Hey, Nii-san?”

His brother stirred, opening his eyes slowly. Then he smiled. “I’m alright,” he said, pushing himself to sit up straight again, though his movements were slow and seemed heavy.

Kazuma sighed again, and took the seat next to him. “So, how was it?”

“Different,” Kazumi said immediately, “Completely. I was so much more awake this time, and he could hear me, and I could still feel things through him.” He couldn’t seem to stop smiling, and for all Kazuma’s reservations about his brother’s choice in partner, it really was nice to see him this happy. “It wasn’t like I was pushed out or separated from him either, he felt... with me the whole time. Like he was holding me. It was so fun, being able to talk to him like that and experience everything with him.  It... it was...” Kazumi’s voice wavered, and Kazuma realized with alarm there were tears in the corner of his eye.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he put an arm around Kazumi’s shoulder, pulling him towards him. Kazumi shook his head. “If it was hard for you-”

“No, I mean it. It really was nice, I’m not- I’m not making that up,” Kazumi said, sounding frustrated with himself as he rubbed at his eyes. Then, softly, almost embarrassed, he said, “I was just... I wish it had been like that the first time too. That’s all.”

Kazuma paused, then squeezed Kazumi tighter. “Well, of course you do. It  _ should’ve _ been. It’s how that ass should’ve treated you from the start.

At least that gets a small laugh out of him. “I guess you haven’t warmed up to him much?”

Kazuma sighed. “Look, I didn’t pick any fights with him, so at least let me vent a little when he isn’t here.” Then he paused, and admitted, “And... okay, he was definitely acting differently than what I expected. I kind of get why you’re giving him another chance. A little, anyway.”

Kazumi relaxed too at that, leaning so that his head rested against Kazuma’s. “I’m glad, then.” It still felt like he wanted to say something else, so Kazuma waited until he managed to ask, “Then... would you mind being there next time, too? If there is a next time. We’ll have to talk about it first.”

“I guess, if you want me to be,” Kazuma said. The idea seemed less alarming this time, at least. Enough that he grinned at his brother and teased, “He  _ does _ still have a long, long way to go before he actually wins me over.”

Kazumi laughed, more easily this time. “Alright. I’ll let him know to work hard, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ten points to whoever guesses the movie being referenced.


End file.
